Knox could return to Italy for murder retrial

US woman convicted and then acquitted of killing roommate says she may go back after authorities overturned judgement.

Legal analysts expect Knox to be tried again only in absentia for the crime that was committed in 2007 [EPA]

Amanda Knox, the US student convicted and then acquitted of murdering her former roommate, has said she may return to Italy for a retrial.

Knox, who was acquitted in 2011, made the revelation as she launched a memoir on Tuesday, including frank details about sex, drugs and her time behind bars.

In interviews to promote her book Waiting to Be Heard - which also recounts how she considered suicide in jail - she said she was "considering" returning to Italy, where Meredith Kercher was murdered in 2007.

"My lawyers have said that I don't have to and that I don't need to. I'm still considering it, to be honest," she was quoted by USA Today as saying when asked if she planned to return to Italy.

Most legal analysts, however, expect Knox to be tried again only in absentia for the crime.

"It's scary, the thought. But it's also important for me to say, 'This is not just happening far away from and doesn't matter to me.' So, somehow, I feel it's important for me to convey that. And if my presence is what is necessary to convey that, then I'll go."

She said she hoped Kercher's family would read the book, although she is not in touch with them.

"It matters to me what Meredith's family thinks ... I really hope that the Kerchers read my book. And they don't have to believe me. I have no right to demand anything of anyone. But I hope they try," she said.

"I want them to know, their grief has my every respect, has the respect of my family," she added to ABC television, in her first broadcast interview since her release two years ago.

'Drug-fuelled' attack

Knox and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were sentenced to 26 years and 25 years respectively in prison for the killing of Kercher six years ago, allegedly in a drug-fuelled sex attack.

She was acquitted on appeal and released in 2011, returning to her native Seattle.

However, in March Italian authorities overturned that judgment, and ordered the 25-year-old to stand trial again.

Knox has launched a publicity campaign in the US to promote her autobiography for which she was reportedly paid a $3.8m advance.

In the 480-page book, she describes her early life in Seattle and her decision to take a year out to live in the small Italian city of Perugia to learn the Italian language and experience the country's culture.

She is open about her attitude to sex, and how it was changing as she headed overseas. She said she had had sex with four men before her departure.

"I left for Italy having decided I needed to change that. For me, sex was emotional, and I didn't want it to be anymore," she said.

"I hated feeling dependent on anyone else. I wanted sex to be about empowerment and pleasure, not about 'Does this person like me? Will he still like me tomorrow?'," she said.

Knox moved in with two Italian girls and Kercher, who was from the UK.